New Jersey officials escalated attacks over frozen federal funding for the Gateway tunnel project, arguing the Trump administration’s shifting explanations for blocking congressionally approved dollars belie President Donald Trump’s partisan aims.
The $16 billion infrastructure project to build new rail tunnels under the Hudson River is owed more than $205 million in federal reimbursements since Trump paused funding in October, and officials have warned that work on Gateway will stop Friday when a line of credit used to keep construction ongoing during the freeze runs dry.
“It is critical to the region, it’s critical to jobs, it’s critical to the economy. That’s why we’re fighting,” Gov. Mikie Sherrill told reporters Wednesday. “Let me be clear: This is a political decision by the president to cancel money that’s already in a pot being ready to be put to work.”
Gov. Sherrill’s pick for attorney general clears key hurdle
New Jersey’s bid to restore that funding now includes two lawsuits. Late Wednesday, New York and New Jersey sued the U.S. Department of Transportation and a slew of federal officials, arguing partisan politics drove the illegal freeze.
The states’ suit alleges federal officials violated the Administrative Procedures Act, which governs how executive agencies can set regulations, by moving to freeze funding before seeking other remedies for alleged non-compliance, as the law requires.
“The decision to suspend all project funds violates the law in multiple ways: It violates careful federal regulations that limit whether and when agencies can freeze project funds, it violates requirements that agencies have to give valid reasons for the decisions they make, and it reflects an unlawful effort by the president to punish political rivals by holding up this critical project,” said acting New Jersey Attorney General Jen Davenport.
Another complaint filed earlier this week in a federal contracting court by the Gateway Development Commission, which oversees the tunnel project, alleges the Trump administration breached contracts by withholding funding for Gateway.
New Jersey officials have warned that the work stoppage looming on Friday would have dire consequences. The states are responsible for Gateway cost overruns, and the Gateway Development Commission has said a suspension would add between $15 million and $20 million in monthly costs.
Interest on credit used to keep work ongoing since federal funding stopped flowing would add to those costs.
The Trump administration’s justifications for withholding congressionally approved funding for Gateway have morphed repeatedly, and the Republican president has more than once indicated his partisan preferences drove the freeze. The governors of New Jersey and New York are both Democrats.
Federal budget director Russel Vought initially said funding was frozen to stop funds from flowing to “unconstitutional DEI principles.” The Department of Transportation later said it was an issue of compliance with new — and later old — rules for its disadvantaged business enterprise grant program.
At other times, the administration has indicated it was related to last fall’s government shutdown, which was the second under Trump to become the longest in history. The White House last week claimed it was frozen because of an impasse over funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Trump has offered a more partisan explanation.
“What we’re doing is we’re cutting Democrat programs that we didn’t want,” he said on Fox News in October.
“We’re only cutting Democrat programs,” he said during an October cabinet meeting.
The White House did not return a request for comment.
The shifting explanations, as well as a lack of specificity in those offered, made the funding freeze arbitrary and capricious, the states said in their suit.
The Administrative Procedures Act requires that regulators give reasoned explanations for agency actions, and the Department of Transportation gave no explanation for why funding had to be paused while it assessed compliance with the disadvantaged business grant program, according to the suit.
“It is evident from the President’s and White House’s statements, as well as the timing and manner of DOT’s ultimate suspension of funding, that this action was a politically motivated attempt to punish and coerce those with whom the President disagrees,” the suit says.
Though outcry over the funding freeze has largely been limited to Democrats, at least one of New Jersey’s Republican House members said federal funding for Gateway should resume.
“Delays of any kind put jobs at risk, threaten reliability for hundreds of thousands of riders, and weaken one of the most important transportation arteries in the country. I am pressing for this funding to move forward in full,” Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-07) said in a statement. “While there are always competing priorities in Washington — this project must be completed.”
Kean is expected to face a tough reelection bid in November.
Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-02) and Chris Smith (R-04) did not return requests for comment.
The state’s Democratic representatives have railed against the freeze, and at least one is hoping talks can see funding restored. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-05), who called the administration’s justifications for the freeze “bullsh*t,” said he would seek to negotiate to restore funding.
“I’m less interested in their BS rationale for why they’re trying to shut it down and more focused on how do we work together to get it reopened and keep it moving,” Gottheimer told reporters Wednesday. “They made an agreement.”
The states have asked a judge in the Southern District of New York to declare the funding freeze unlawful and order reimbursements be restarted. They are seeking a preliminary injunction to restart federal funding before work stops on Friday and a permanent one to bar the administration from unlawfully withholding funding in the future.
“This, for our region, is all about jobs. It’s about families. It’s about the economy. Unfortunately, for President Trump, it’s just about politics. It’s him using this in any way possible to hold up progress in a political fight, and as usual when he gets involved, costs go up and New Jerseyans get hurt,” Sherrill said.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
